•Emotional- a funeral allows us to "let go" of our emotions and face the reality of death. It allows family and friends to share memories of a loved one, to laugh and cry together and provide vital support for each others grief.•Physical - the disposal of the deceased's body is controlled by State laws, and is usually by way of burial or cremation •Social - a funeral is a social event that emphasizes and acknowledges life. It is also an historical event that should be shared, so that family and friends can support each other•Spiritual - a funeral helps us realise that material things don't really matter as money can't buy the most precious gift of all, that of life. A funeral gives expression to love and allows faith to be shown.The following aspects meet those needs:Individual choice of funeral makes the event more meaningful for those attending. Families are encouraged to select their own venue, their own music, readings or poetry, and they can choose whether a religious or non religious ceremony is more appropriate. The order, content and style of service can be varied to suit the family's needs. A personal tribute from a friend or family member, or perhaps including appropriate cultural traditions, may make the service more meaningful. The involvement of the body of the person we are mourning in the funeral experience is very important in helping us through our grief. It is painful to witness the final committal of the body, but the act of that person leaving us helps us to accept the reality of their death. A funeral is for those who are living. it is a celebration of the life of the loved one, not the death. Related Article: Grief and how to deal with it Author: Dr. Pradeep K Chadha. A simple exercise will bring benefit to all those who want to deal with grief of a loved one. Do this exercise everyday at least once, preferably before sleeping .....more The Willingness To Heal Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. I have counseled individuals, couples, families and business partners for the past 35 years and authored eight published books. ......more

How to say goodbye and the importance of the funeral ceremony There are four basic needs fulfilled by the funeral:

Caring for the families of the wheatbelt

Grief-How To Deal With It Author: Dr. Pradeep K Chadha Grief is an integral part of almost everyone's life. Whenever you go through the loss of a near and dear one, you go through a grief process. Grief is experienced physically and psychologically. Crying is an integral part of grief process. In cultures where crying is acceptable, loss is borne more readily than in those in which crying is discouraged. When we have lost a near and dear one, it is initially difficult to accept the loss. This is natural. As time passes, the loss becomes easier to bear from a psychological perspective. But emotional expression is still an integral part of grieving. If the person is not allowed to grieve due to societal or family pressures, other problems like depression or anxiety may arise. From Nature's perspective, once someone has died, it is important that the(unconscious) mind accepts the loss. Once the unconscious mind accepts the loss after going through crying and sadness , life becomes easier. A simple exercise will bring benefit to all those who want to deal with grief of a loved one.. Exercise: Close your eyes and imagine seeing the lost loved one in front of you. Talk to the person in your mind as if the person was standing in front of you. Treat the image as a real person. Having finished saying what you would like to say, bid the person GOODBYE and see the person go. You will notice feeling like crying or feeling sad. . Do this exercise everyday at least once, preferably before sleeping, till you start to feel comfortable seeing the person go. By that time your sadness will have reduced to a remarkable extent. This exercise can save you many months of counseling and a lot of money if done as advised. . About the author: Pradeep K Chadha is a psychiatrist who specialises in helping patients with meditation and imagery using little or no medication. He is the author of The Stress Barrier-Nature's Way To Overcoming Stress published by Blackhall Publishing, Dublin. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.His website address is :www.drpkchadha.comCLICK OUT OF DOCUMENT TO CLOSE

The Willingness To Heal Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. I have counseled individuals, couples, families and business partners for the past 35 years and authored eight published books. All this experience has resulted in the development of a profound healing process, called Inner Bonding, which anyone can learn and use throughout the day (free course available - see resource box at the end of the article). The first step of this process is willingness.We cannot begin a journey without our willingness to do so. Without our willingness to do whatever it takes to heal, we will not begin the journey of healing and evolving our soul.Doing whatever it takes means that we are ready and willing to feel, learn about and take full responsibility for our own feelings -our own pain, fear, anger, hurt, aloneness, loneliness, disappointment, depression, sense of safety, worth, lovability and joy. Willingness means that we are ready to become aware of creating our own feelings with our thoughts, beliefs and actions. It means we are willing to face whatever it is we fearin order to heal the beliefs causing the fear.Willingness means that we choose to be courageous and face our demons - the shadow side of ourselves about which we do not want anyone to know. It means that we are ready to move out of denial about the pain we are in, ready to stop hiding from ourselves. Willingness means that we are ready to become aware of how much we want control over our pain, over others, and over the outcome of things. Until we are ready to see, without judgment, how deeply we want to control everything, and all the overt and subtle ways we try to have control, we cannot choose to open.Willingness means that we are ready to ask for help from a spiritual source of strength, and from others who can bring usl ove to help us heal. It means that we are ready to acknowledge that we cannot find our safety without spiritual guidance - that we are ready to invite Spirit into our heart to nurture andguide us. It means that we have embraced the journey, the sacred privilege of learning about love upon this planet. We cannot move into the next step of the Inner Bonding process,the intent to learn about what we are thinking or doing to causeour pain until we are willing to move out of denial regarding our inner distress.As long as we are in denial about our pain, we will not recognize that we have inner pain and may not bemotivated to learn about it. Our denial is one of the ways weare protecting against pain. We may not be willing to move out of denial until loving ourselves and others is more important than avoiding our pain. Willingness means that you pay attention to the physical sensations within your body. You cannot know if you are believing or behaving in ways that are hurting you if you are unwilling to feel what is going on within your body. Feelings of pain, anger, anxiety, hurt, fear, and loneliness are physical sensations that occur within the body. When you numb your body with substances or shut out your inner experience with manipulations and activities, you cannot know what you are feeling. We put ourselves on a new path toward our own wholeness when webecome willing to feel our pain and learn from it. About the author:Margaret Paul, Ph.D., best-selling author of eight books,including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You" andco-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone Sessions.CLICK OUT OF DOCUMENT TO CLOSE